Hershey Bears 2013-14 schedule

HERSHEY, Pa. – The Hershey Bears, in conjunction with the American Hockey League, announced today the schedule of games for the upcoming 2013-14 season. The announcement was made by Bears President/GM Doug Yingst.

The Bears, entering their 76th season of play in the AHL, will open their season on home ice for the first time since 2009. And for the first time since that same season, the Hockey Club will have new guidance behind the bench as head coach Mike Haviland and assistant coach Ryan Mougenel make their debuts. The puck drops on the new campaign at 7:00 PM on Saturday, October 5 between the Bears and the Adirondack Phantoms at GIANT Center.

The club will then get a lot of travel out of the way early, as the team will take their trip to Newfoundland for a pair of games against the St. John's IceCaps on Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19.

The Charlotte Checkers, members of the newly-named West Division, are back on the schedule of opponents and will host Hershey on Wednesday and Thursday, November 13 and 14. After that venture to North Carolina, the Bears play just four more games against the Western Conference: two against the Checkers (Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2) and two against the Rochester Americans (Saturday, January 4 and Friday, February 7).

Seven names synonymous with the Hershey Bears were enshrined forever in the inaugural class of the Hockey Club's Hall of Fame in December, 2012. The next class of five will enter the Hall of Fame in a special ceremony prior to puck drop against the Providence Bruins on Sunday, December 1. It will also be the Bears' first rematch of the 2013 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

East Division rival and reigning Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Crunch pay their first visit to Chocolatetown on Wednesday, December 18 – one of three popular Hersheypark Pass Nights. The other two are slated for Sunday, November 3 against the Norfolk Admirals and Sunday, April 13 against the Binghamton Senators.

The traditional Super Bowl Sunday game will take place on February 2 at 2:00 PM against Norfolk. Shortly afterward the National Hockey League will break for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. During the hiatus, the Bears will play two of their four scheduled neutral-site contests. The club will visit the Albany Devils at historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Friday, February 14, while Syracuse plays host to the Bears on Sunday, February 23 in the second Washington AHL Showcase game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. – the home of the Bears' NHL affiliate Washington Capitals.

The other two off-site games will feature a second contest against Albany at Boardwalk Hall on Sunday, January 12, and a matchup against the Adirondack Phantoms at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, February 1.

The Bears will once again be on the road for most of the final month of the season, playing 10 of their final 14 games away from GIANT Center. Adirondack is in town on Saturday, April 19 at 7:00 PM to play in the Bears' regular season finale.

In all, a majority of the Hershey Bears home games will take place on weekends (36 of 38 to be played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays). The club will also play two home contests on Wednesdays.

The Bears face off against 16 of 29 possible opponents, meeting every team in the Eastern Conference and two in the Western Conference. The longest homestand of the season is a five-game stretch from November 23 to December 1, while the club will play the most consecutive games away from home (also five games) from April 4-12.

The Bears will, for the first time, host two Sunday games with special 4:00 PM start times (March 2 vs. Charlotte and March 16 vs. Norfolk).

The complete 2013-2014 Hershey Bears regular season schedule follows, including start times and opponents, and games by division, month and day of week.

Information on promotional nights will be released in the coming days.